Old Belmont school sold for $1

Tuesday

Allegany County legislators not sure who owned building, vote passes by 2.

The former Belmont Central School building, after sitting vacant for several years, may eventually be put to some use.

Allegany County legislators Monday authorized the sale of the building to the village of Belmont for $1. The county has “no use” for the parcel and will not “in the future,” according to the resolution.

Not all legislators felt this way, as the resolution passed by just two votes, 8-6.

The property was formerly owned by the Allegany County Area Development Corp. At the time, the director of the corporation was Walter “Mickey” Martelle, who also was the Industrial Development Agency director. Martelle, of Wellsville, was convicted in September 2006 on one count of third-degree grand larceny and 12 counts of first-degree falsifying business records dating back to his time as a landlord of a building on Water Street in Cuba and had been accused of collecting more money from one of the tenants for electric bills than they actually owed.

Though legislators were speaking as if the county has owned the property for several years, the county did not. In fact, the county foreclosed on the property for non-payment of back taxes in January, according to County Treasurer Terri Ross.

Ross said the county did not hold recorded title to the property as of this morning. She said legislators may have been referring to the county being approached to buy the school building around the time the Belmont and Angelica school districts merged to form the Genesee Valley Central School District. The county reportedly did nothing at that time.

A community group called Belmont Betterment Association, Inc., has raised about $17,000 for a feasibility study, said Village of Belmont Mayor Terrance Schmelzer. Schmelzer, who is not a member of Belmont Betterment, said the group hopes to find a business to use the school and get the building back on the tax rolls. He said Belmont Betterment is not affiliated with the village board, although it includes some board members.

“We hope to get a transfer from the county (to the village) as soon as possible and we hope to get a transfer from us to the Belmont Betterment,” Schmelzer said. “They were out there, in my opinion, doing the work of the county. We have a group that is willing to do all this work and bring business to the county.”

Schmelzer said the building, especially the old portion of it built in 1930, is in bad shape due to water leaks. A part of the school was added in 1990, he said.

“It’s in bad shape, especially on the top floor of the old part, down to the bottom part, where the elevator is,” he said. “It’s hurt the walls. There’s some spots where the ceiling has come down. There’s parts of it that are going to be difficult to renovate.”

Belmont Betterment President Raymond DeTine said this morning the feasibility study is being done on behalf of Jamestown Community College and the YMCA. There is currently no community college in Allegany County.

“The YMCA in no way wants to compete with any programs that are already in the county,” DeTine said.

Another major problem with the school building, he said, is the need for a new roof. DeTine said Belmont Betterment has a chance of getting a New York State Main Street Grant, which would fund half of the roof cost. Belmont Betterment would have to match it with 50 percent. DeTine said the grant could be around $37,500 although the exact amount is not known at this time.

“We have until the end of December to get this grant,” DeTine said. “Once we have ownership of the building, we can put a roof on it. We’re replacing the roof on the old section and we’re repairing the roof on the new section. The old section is about 56,000 square feet and the new section is 44,000 square feet.

“I’d say we’re 90 percent sure we’re going to get the grant. I’ll know more by the end of the week,” he added.

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